Spilling Open: The Art of Becoming Yourself Paperback - 2000

Excerpt

Spilling Open: The Art of Becoming Yourself by Sabrina Ward Harrison is a multimedia journal through the life of a young woman and artist. The text from the book is intended to be experienced with the art.

A foreward by Sark

Backward. Fourword. Four words: This is what is. Sabrina is a luminous mystery, a carousel of feelings, lumps and discoveries. If you could lie down with her journals, you would see genius. That genius is in this book.

Yes, she is young, thank God. We might get that much more from/of her. When I read this book, I am reminded of illuminated manuscripts, "deep talking" from Africa, sweet spilling tea and fragrant bedsheets. Your soul will awaken and you may find your bed flying to rare places at night.

Do it. Get out of your nightgown and lie naked in moonlight. See through Sabrina eyes. I assure you of a nourishing voyage. There are words and pictures here that move us to cry and float simultaneously.

Dive deep. Be surprised by this book and the kindred spirit you will find inside. Be assured of inventions, journeys, and messages. She is sharing her real self here and letting us see inside.

I celebrate her soul and all that it contains. Love, Sark

Introduction

The great American poet Walt Whitman said that there is a time we must "wash the gum from our eyes and dress ourselves for the dazzle of the light." He looked at men and women struggling with their lives and said, "Long have you timidly waded holding a plank by the shore, now I will you to be a bold swimmer, to jump off into the midst of the sea, rise again, not to me, shout! and laughingly dash with your hair."

I'm feeling rather disheveled and crooked (I seem to be seeping out at the edges). I am Sabrina Ward Harrison. I am twenty-one. This is my book. I often feel an overwhelming pressure to "have it all together." What is "it"? I feel young. I am young.

Childrens book artist and author Maurice Sendak described his creative process as a "descent into limbo." This describes my entire life lately. The more I look around and listen I realize that I'm not alone. We are all facing choices that define us. No choice. However messy is without importance in the overall picture of our lives. We all at our own age have to claim something, even if it's only our own confusion. I am in the middle of growing up and into myself.

This book is my life in progress. A growing expedition through the tangled and unfilled-in parts of understanding my life, my truth and myself.

I want to share it.

Welcome inside.